Representatives of Aboriginal community organisations met with the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Geraldton today.
Commissioner Helen Milroy and Commissioner Andrew Murray hosted a meeting to talk about ways to make it easier for Aboriginal people to engage with the Royal Commission.
The Royal Commission’s Chief Executive Officer, Ms Janette Dines, said the Royal Commission encourages community-based organisations to make submissions to the Royal Commission, and to support their clients who may be wishing to come forward and tell their story.
“Organisations, as well as individuals, have the opportunity to talk to the Commissioners and share their experiences, expertise and knowledge,” said Ms Dines. “We will return to West Australia as many times as it takes to hear peoples’ stories.”
The Royal Commission encourages people who were sexually abused as a child in an Australian institution to register to tell their story to the Royal Commission by:
Professor Helen Milroy is a descendant of the Palyku people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. She is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and Winthrop Professor at the University of Western Australia with extensive experience in child mental health.
Mr Andrew Murray is a Rhodes Scholar and former businessman who was a Senator for Western Australia from 1996 to 2008. Commissioner Murray is an advocate on issues surrounding institutionalised children and is a former Patron of the Care Leavers Association of Australia and the Alliance for Forgotten Australians.
